Life of a Legend
by czgohan
Summary: This is a story following Namikaze Minato during his life as a ninja. just a small idea i had will continue it whenever i can. will of course be a Minato/Kushina pairing. please read and review
1. Chapter 1

Life of a Legend

Chapter One

It was a quiet, warm spring morning in the village of Konoha. In a modest two story home in the heart of the village there was a young blonde boy slumbering. The birds singing outside his window did nothing to awaken him, in fact they helped him continue his sleep, despite that he was nearing very close to oversleeping and missing one of the most important moments in his life.

He was extremely tired due to the excitement he felt the night prior cause him to fall asleep very late, he would have continued to sleep throughout the day had it not been for the female voice that called up to him.

"Are you going to sleep all day?" he heard his mother yell up the stairs. "Get up, get ready, and get down here for some breakfast. Otherwise you are going to be late for the team assignments."

The boy shifted in his bed, moaning groggily as he began to rub the sleep from his eyes. He ran his hand through his hair and gazed over at the clock on his wall…7:30?

He quickly jumped from his bed, now wide-awake. He only had a half-hour to get to the academy. The boy ran around the room, found some clean clothes and hurriedly dressed in his normal dark blue clothing. He skipped showering, hell he just bathed last night.

As he sat at the table and ate a hurried breakfast his mother cast a critical eye over him, "Minato-kun if you didn't over sleep you would have had time to groom yourself, here you always go out with a case of bed-head."

The young boy glanced at his mother, and then finishing the food that was in his mouth, "Kaa-san you know how pointless that it is. Tou-san had the same problem, right?"

The older woman nodded absentmindedly, it was true, her late husband could never tame his hair. Minato was the same way, but she couldn't help but tease him a bit about it.

The boy wanted to be a ninja like his father, who gave his life to defend the village. He died protecting the people he loved. In the same battle with that mist nin, the same battle that only the three Sennin, as they were now called, were the only survivors.

Minato was proud of his father. Though the memory of him was slight there was one thing that he would never forget about the man, to Minato his father would always be a larger than life figure. He was a man who prided himself in never giving up, he never stopped in doing what he knew in is heart to be right.

Minato respected Tsunade, Orochimaru and Jiriaya as everyone else does. But it was people like his father, people that truly give their all to protect the village that inspired his dream.

He would do his father proud when he became Hokage, he knew it. He knew that somewhere his father would be proud.

Minato finished up his breakfast and started to hurry out the door, then he froze. He was in such a rush that he nearly forgot the most important thing. The boy bolted up the stairs and threw his bedroom door open, he scanned the room quickly and his eyes landed on his dresser. Minato walked over and took the thing that marked him as an adult in the eyes of the village.

He strapped his new Hitai-ate to his forehead, and finally made it out of the house he took off towards the academy.

As he made his way to the class he saw a figure ambling slowly down the road. Minato smirked at the sight of his friend, 'that lazy bastard could use a fire under his pants,' he thought as he caught up with he boy.

"Hey Shikaku," Minato called out smacking the brunette boy on the back, startling him. "If you don't pick up the pace you'll make it in time for next years graduation team assignments."

The boy sighed heavily at Minato, "stop being so bothersome."

Minato huffed in mock outrage, "Bothersome? Well if that's how you feel, then I have no idea why I still hangout with you."

The Nara rolled his eyes, yet gave a slight smile that Minato caught, "and yet here you are still talking to me."

"I was just worried about you, after all what would your mother say if you missed today?" Minato chided.

Shikaku gave an unconcerned shrug, "no idea, but it can't be any worse than what I've already heard from her." He gave a sidelong look at his friend, "what about you? If you keep pace with me you could be late too, and I just don't see how the top student of this year can stand to be late."

Minato smiled, "no worries even going at this pace we should still make it with at least five minutes to spare."

"Guess I should slow down then," mumbled Shikaku.

Minato gave a bark of laughter and the two continued on to the school.

They made it to the class with some time to spare. Shikaku sat himself in the back row next to Chouza, he lay his had in his arms on the desk and rested from the 'strenuous' trip form his home to the school.

Minato sat in his normal seat by the window, he had a piece of paper out and was doodling as the rest of the class were waiting for their sensei and any last minute stragglers.

He was jolted from his drawing by a snide voice, "what are you doing Namikaze?"

He looked up to see Hyuuga Hiashi looking at his paper with a disdainful look on his face, "not much Hyuuga."

"What is that supposed to be?" he asked pointing at the paper. On it was a picture that Minato sketched of a bizarre looking kunai, "do you really think something like that could work? It looks like it would have to much resistance."

Minato sat up straight, "you know what you're problem is Hyuuga? You have no imagination, for all you know this could work better than a normal kunai." The blonde boy sighed dramatically, "you're a kid still and you are already old fashioned, it's no wonder I beat you out for top of this class."

Hiashi stiffened but said nothing as he walked away, Minato shrugged and then turned to see 'Hiashi' sitting next to him. He gave a fake look of shock, "don't do that Hiashi…oh sorry Hizashi, got confused for a second."

"Doesn't take much, does it Minato?" the other Hyuuga said with a chuckle.

Minato gave a laugh, "so what's wrong with your brother? He acts like that stick up his ass is even deeper that before."

"You guessed correctly before when you spoke with him." Hizashi said quietly.

"What? He's upset because I'm rookie of the year not him?" Minato asked dubiously. Hiashi could be many things but Minato never pegged him as a jealous type.

"No, he could deal with that," Hizashi said. "Father however, couldn't help but show his disappointment in Hiashi's so called 'failure'."

"That's what I don't like about you Hyuuga," Minato said quietly, "one extreme or the other, either you're the best or you are nothing…"

"I don't like it much myself," Hizashi said, automatically rubbing his forehead.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you…"Minato started but was cut off by the other boy.

"Don't worry about it Minato, it's not your problem."

At that point the Chuunin sensei spoke up, "alright class settle down." The man looked around the room, "I want to congratulate you all on your graduation, I am sure that you all will strive to be the best that you can and make this village proud."

The class, for the most part, all cheered at the teacher's statement. He raised his hand and they fell silent once more, "that being said as you all know you will be split into teams of three with a Jonin-sensei. In this you will learn one of the most important aspects of ninja life, teamwork. You have been grouped to create the most balanced teams that could be done. Trust me there are obstacles that can be overcome working together that you cant do alone."

He paused, "I expect you all to give him of her your respect and attention, after all they will be guiding you and help you reach your full potential. I'd also hate to hear that one of my former students was acting up in any way, as it reflects poorly on me." He added on with a chuckle to which none of the new Genin found funny.

The man sighed, "anyway when I call your name you will come to the door and will meet with your new sensei, I wish you all the best of luck."

With that he started rattling of names, Minato said nothing sitting quietly but was not really paying attention until he heard his own name. And soon enough "Kasumi Karei, Kobushi Sentou and Namikaze Minato, you will now be team Six, please make your way down here."

Minato stood up and looked around already heading for the door were his two new teammates.

Sentou was a shorter boy with a rounded face and close cropped brown hair, he wore a simple black ki that seemed to allow for free movement. Minato didn't know him that well but didn't have any problems with the boy. From what Minato knew of him his academic scores were not all that great, but he was proficient with hand-to-hand combat as demonstrated in class spar. He also was one of the quietest people in the class, only an Aburame says less than this guy.

Karei was another story altogether, she was outgoing and friendly. She wore a lighter colored outfit, almost a very light grey, her hair was about shoulder-length and black, it was tied up behind her in a simple pony tail. Minato didn't know much about her abilities though. She also seemed to be extremely serious in her choice of profession and did not act in anyway like some of the more frivolous Konoichi in the class.

Minato was now at the door and looked back to the class to see Chouza and Yamanaka Inoichi doing their best to wake the sleeping Shikaku. Some of his other friend waved to him and he got a small nod from the Hyuuga twins.

He turned back and kept walking almost running into one of the largest people he ever saw, Minato looked up and his eyes met with the mans. He was speechless as he saw their new sensei, the man was tall and broad, he had a slight smile on his face that had two red lines that ran from under his eyes down his cheeks.

He of course recognized the man, and could not believe his luck. Jiriaya, one of the three Sannin, was his sensei?

"Nice of you to join us, Gaki. You like taking your time?" the man asked.

Minato could only shake his head in response.

"Well now that you are all here, meet me on the roof. We will have some things to go over." Jiriaya said and then disappeared in a burst of smoke.

The three new Genin started making their way up the halls to get to the roof, Karei nudged Minato in the ribs, "You know Minato-san I've never seen you so quiet before."

He looked at the girl, "I just wasn't expecting that, I mean Jiriaya is our sensei."

"We noticed that," Sentou said.

The three soon found them selves sitting in front of the white haired man who was leaning on the railing that ran along the edge of the roof, he watched the three of them who were looking at him expectantly. Finally he spoke, "well as I'm sure you have guessed I am the great Jiriaya, you all should consider yourselves lucky that I am your sensei. I can show and teach you many things but first I want to know a bit about yourselves."

He paused a moment, "I'll go first to show you what I mean. I am of course one of the Sannin, my hobbies include my research and writing. I like training and other things I don't really have many dislikes. My goal in life is to see the world and as much of the sights it has to offer, I also aspire to be a published author." He pointed at Sentou, "now it's your turn kid."

Sentou sighed, "my name is Kobushi Sentou, I don't have many hobbies don't really dislike anything as well, I like to train in taijutsu and I guess my goal is to be a taijutsu master."

Jiriaya nodded and pointed at Karei, "and now the lady's turn."

Karei gave him a slightly annoyed look, "my name is Kasumi Karei, my hobbies I guess would be reading and drawing. My goal in life is to learn what I an about Genjutsu, it is fascinating to me to use my imagination as a weapon. My only dislikes would have to be Konoichi who don't take things seriously and give the rest of us a bad name and people who underestimate me simply because I'm a female."

Jiriaya nodded, "I want to say that being underestimated is not always a bad thing, you can use that against your enemies. I have seen quite a few powerful shinobi fall because of their own arrogance." He smiled at the girl, "and trust me you don't have to worry about me underestimating a Konoichi simply because they are a woman. I've had that lesson beaten into me very early on," he muttered the last bit. And the pointing to Minato, "ok you next."

Minato grinned, "my name is Namikaze Minato, my likes are studying and researching jutsu. My dislikes are people who are full of themselves with no just cause. I have a couple goals in life, to create my own Jutsu's so that I can pass down should the time ever come, and I want to be Hokage some day."

Jiriaya looked curiously at the blonde boy, "Namikaze? Are you related to a Namikaze Arashi by any chance?" Minato nodded simply, "I remember him, he was a good man, a good shinobi. I am sorry for what happened that day."

Minato smiled at Jiriaya, "nothing to worry about, I don't blame you or anyone for his death. In fact it was his sacrifice that inspired my goal in life."

Jiriaya smiled at the three of them, "well this is an interesting group but before we can begin missions there is one more test that you have to pass."

"What kind of test, Sensei?" asked Karei.

The older Shinobi grinned almost evilly, causing the three kids to squirm a bit. "It is a test to make sure that you are truly ready to begin your lives as Shinobi. You will meet me at training grounds number 15 tomorrow morning at Seven." He turned to leave then turned back, "oh and it might be best if you skip breakfast, it can be a bit harsh and you might end up throwing up."


	2. Chapter 2

Life of a Legend

Chapter Two

Having just left the kids, Jiraiya took to walking the streets of the village. He was unsure of what to do now, he already had the whole test planned out for the morning but as he had the rest of the day to himself was unsure how to fill it.

'Too early for a few drinks,' he thought seeing the sun at its peak in the sky, he wasn't that much of a lush.

He also stamped out the idea of some time in the hot springs. Jiraiya knew that Tsunade had some time off and would be there, and as tempting as that was…he just did not feel like being sent to the hospital again.

Fortunately for the Sannin, had a voice not interrupted his thoughts he was sure that some part of him, well a part of his anatomy, would have led him there.

"What are up to, lost? Kukuku," said a voice that just grinded on his nerves. And that damn laugh did not help at all, chuckling at something that the toad sage failed to see the humor in.

The white haired man's face screwed up, as though about to face the most unpleasant and disturbing situation he could think of. He took a deep breath and turned to the sound and greeted his friend, "what do you want, Orochimaru?" He didn't really mean to sound so snippy, but couldn't help it.

"Now, now…is that anyway talk to a friend?" chided the pale man. A wide grin was spread over his face as he talked. "I just wanted to give a friendly greeting."

"You've got a funny way of doing that," Jiraiya said. The truth was, he didn't hate Orochimaru, they had been through far too much together for that. It was just an odd feeling he got when the Hebi-teme was around. It was hard to place due to his trust in him, but if he had to categorize it, he'd have to say that is was a feeling of unease.

The two walked together for a while, hell they had nothing better to do. It was Orochimaru that broke the silence, "so word is that Sensei had assigned a team to you. Do you not find it odd that you, a Sannin, are taking on the duties of a simple Jonin?"

Jiraiya did not miss the veiled slight against him with that statement. "Look you may have embraced the idea of 'Sannin' as it gives you an undue sense of superiority. But it is a false title given by an enemy, for the simple fact that we survived, and barely at that."

Orochimaru rolled his eyes; "please, as if you have not been using that with the ladies."

The other flushed a bit. "That's beside the point, for all intensive purposes we are Jonin of this village. And as such my leader saw fit to give me students to train." He grinned, "You should take on a team, excellent opportunity for some victims for torture."

"I never thought myself much of a teacher, I may find an apprentice at some point but no one has really caught my attention," Orochimaru said truthfully. "That said, now that you have a team to train perhaps I could too."

"Really?"

"Yes, after all your team has such an inept teacher that I may just train them out of pity." The smirk was wide on his face, his thin lips almost disappearing.

"Teme."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was a calm and quiet morning. The sun had just started to creep up the horizon, as a young blonde boy made his though the village toward the training grounds.

He had wanted to get to be early but had made a break though in his secretive project. Minato was still unsure what to call this jutsu that he was working on. But if he had figured it right, the possibilities for it were almost limitless.

It was the reason for his exhaustion. He had been working on it for almost a year now, and inspiration just had to strike as he was settling down to sleep last night. Minato could not pass up the opportunity to further his creation, after all, it had been so long since he had made any real progress with it.

He'd been working on it for almost a year now. So despite the fact that he was almost guaranteed a very exhausting day, he stayed up over three hours later than he should have done. Creating detailed notes and practiced as much as possible. It was worth it.

His joy had left him the moment he heard what the 'test' was going to be. "We have to what?" Sentou asked, disbelieving when Jiraiya had shown up and explained the rules of the test.

Jiraiya chuckled darkly, "it's real simple really. All you have to do is come at me and get one of these bells." He motioned to the two bells that had been attached to his belt. "You get a bell and you pass, don't get one and it's back to the academy with you for some remedial classes until you are deemed ready to try again."

The three kids stared at him is disbelief, but then the young konoichi noticed something. "There are only two bells." Karei said flatly, causing the two boys to notice this as well and frown.

"Yep," said Jiraiya happily. A wide smile split his face.

"But that is impossible," said Minato.

"How so?"

The boy began to explain, "in the academy we learned that a squad of three is the optimal number. Too many and you run a higher risk of detection during missions, and too few leaves you lacking and with less people watching your back."

The toad sage watched the boy shrewdly, perhaps he already understood the importance of teamwork. 'We'll see if he sticks with that thought.'

Jiraiya rolled his eyes, putting on a bit of a show. "That is a perfect quote from textbook, but surely you realize that while a team of three is optimal sometimes there are more or less. And sometimes one such as myself," he flourished his hands motioning to his own greatness, "could take on a single pupil. I have gained special permission from the Hokage to cut this team down teaching three would be too much of a hassle." He finished the last part in an off-hand voice.

"But that's not fair!" Karei all but shouted.

"When is the life of a shinobi…no when is life itself fair," The white haired man spat. "Bad things happen, good things happen. So you can think of this as a bad thing for you and good for me, also consider this your first lesson."

The three Genin said nothing to that, the older man was right.

Jiraiya's grin turned almost evil at that point, "Oh, I forgot to mention one last thing. You three have until noon to get a bell, the one, two or three of you that don't, will be tied to one of those stumps," he pointed to the three training posts on the field. "For the rest of the day, while I take the others, or myself out for lunch."

'That son-of a…' 'dammit' 'you monster', went though their heads but wisely kept their mouths shut.

"Begin," Jiraiya said and the three jumped off in different directions into the trees.

It was quiet, an occasional breeze rustled the leaves as it swept through the trees.

Among those trees the three Genin hid, watching the Sannin that was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the field. His eyes were closed and he looked to be meditating. All three were wondering who would make the first move and if they should be the first one.

Sentou was a bit impatient, after all if he waited then he would lose his chance. And despite how vindictive the man was, being trained under one of the Sannin was too great an opportunity to pass up.

It happened quickly, Sentou made his way through the trees and around to where Jiraiya's back was facing. He leapt from the trees, dashing at the older man's back, kunai in hand.

Jiraiya never opened his eyes. Sentou had one fist cocked to strike the sage in the back of the head while the blade would sever one of the stings from the mans belt.

He never had a chance, Jiraiya's head shifted to the left and the punch went wide. One of the Sannin's fingers looped its way through the hole on the blades handle, snatching it from the boy. The other hand lightly stuck the boy on the back, sending him speeding toward the woods opposite him. And with a flick of the wrist sent the kunai into the ground at his feet.

The boy happened to be sent directly where Minato was watching from, Minato jumped out of the way as Sentou righted himself and landed beside the blond lightly.

The two looked back at the older man who had not moved from his spot on the floor of the training grounds.

Sentou got his breathing under control, and glanced over at Minato. "I didn't have a prayer at getting one of those things."

Minato nodded, "yeah, tangling with a fully trained Sannin one-on-one is asking for trouble."

"Well how else was I going to get one of those bells? Asked nicely?" Sentou said irritably.

Minato shrugged, "I was thinking teamwork."

"Teamwork? But we are in a situation where we are against each other," Sentou said.

"Yeah but it's what he said, I know that there is no such thing as a two person Genin squad." Minato said firmly. "And while it is likely to take an apprentice, you only take one."

Sentou nodded, "good point but that doesn't help us here."

"I think it does," Minato said. "in the academy we had the idea of working as a team drilled into our heads, 'it is the most important thing.' I think this is a test and we need to work together, after all none of us will ever get a bell on our own."

Sentou thought about it a moment, "that makes sense, I guess you weren't top of the class for nothing."

Minato grinned, "great, now we have to find Karei."

"Too late," Sentou muttered looking out at the field.

Minato followed his gaze to see the girl in the shadows of the trees bordering the training grounds, they both watched as she started to run through some hand signs. While she was doing it the two boys made for her.

By the time that they reached her they found her panting, her face red from exerting herself, as though she just ran a few miles. Her breathing grew steady, as the two of them greeted her softly.

"Was that a genjutsu?" Minato asked curiously.

Karei nodded, "an attempt at one," she said sourly. "He broke it very easily."

"Well, I don't think that we will be able to get a bell in a one-on one try," Minato said.

The two boys then explained their idea, to a reluctant Karei. It took a bit of convincing, but soon they had a strategy formulated.

And none of them caught the slight smile that crept over Jiraiya's face. He could stop this now, they already get it. But he decided to let it play out, see what they could do.

Jiraiya felt the familiar sensation of what the girl had just tried before and smirked. This is what they were trying? He took his time and detached the genjutsu from himself. And was met with an impressive sight.

There was a small misshapen ball, with waves of chakra spiraling off of it heading for his face. It was held in the hand of the blonde Namikaze as he jumped at the Sannin.

Overall the technique looked weak to Jiraiya, the power coming off of it would do nothing to him. But the damned chakra was visible in the kid's hand.

Suddenly Jiraiya clicked into action, the kids were smart. 'They are trying to distract me. Well they are going about it all wrong…'

The older man reached out and latched his hand around the blond boys wrist, then he reached back to grab Sentou, who thought he was creeping up behind the sage stealthily.

With Minato by the wrist and Sentou griped by the front of the shirt he tossed both boys unceremoniously away from him. Both righted themselves and skidded to a halt, Minato's technique dissipating. All three kids started to get ready to go again

Then Jiraiya put his hand up, "all right that's enough." Then he said, "you all pass."

Authors note: Well I hope you all liked that. Please review let me know what you think. thanks for reading


	3. Chapter 3

Life of a Legend

Chapter Three

The three of them strut…walked down the street in a group, extraordinarily pleased with themselves. Minato and Karei chatted with each other; Sentou did not bring much to the conversation though.

They were heading to the business district. Their new sensei had said that he would be treating them to lunch at this new place a guy he knew opened up.

Following them was Jiraiya, his chest puffed out as he winked at various ladies that giggled and blushed when he caught their eyes.

He hated to admit it, but the teme was right. This status as Sannin did indeed make his life more entertaining. He was thoroughly enjoying the attention, loving the many options that were open to him.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. The white-haired Sannin saw a delicate-looking hand, grip onto his shoulder, and he was spun around. "Well, if you're going to be so forward maybe we should get a…"

He was cut off when the grip slackened and instead grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him down to be face to face with an irritated blonde woman.

"Just what the hell are you doing, acting like a letch like that for?"

"Hime, what…" he felt the eyes from all around and from his new students watching.

"Don't give me any excuses. I heard that you, for some reason, were given a genin squad." She snapped and threw him to the ground, causing him to land unceremoniously on his back. "I know it is a hard concept for you, but now you have to be responsible."

She cast one last, glowering look at her old teammate, turned on her heel and marched back to the man waiting for her, looping her arm around Dan's.

Dan gave an apologetic look back at Jiraiya, who was now brushing himself off, and then turned back to his date.

Jiraiya looked around to see the very same women that were blushing at him, now laughing. Sending a sour look at Tsunade's back he muttered, "flat-chested killjoy."

She was of course not as she was when they were kids, but why she had to ruin his fun was beyond him.

There was a moment of terror when the blonde woman paused right after the slight on her left his mouth. Jiraiya stood sweating, she then sneezed and continued, and the self-proclaimed ladies man let out a sigh of relief.

"Scary…" Jiraiya turned to see Minato standing there laughing, Sentou looked a bit nervous. Karei had a look of awe on her face, staring off into the crowd that Tsunade disappeared into.

Jiraiya slumped, 'great, one day and already losing face…damn Tsunade.'

OoOoO

"Welcome to Ichiraku…Ah Jiraiya-sama, glad to see you again."

A tall, well-built young man greeted the four new arrivals into the quiet little ramen shop. The kids looked around and found some seats in the fairly new looking shop.

"Tenchi-san, how's business?" Jiraiya asked smiling at the chef and he shifted his gaze to a petite, brunette woman, who was serving some other patrons. "And Aki-san, how are you?"

The woman simply nodded, "I am fine, Lord Jiraiya," she said stiffly and the smile that was on her face not moments prior was replace her lips being drawn into a thin line.

There was a bit of a controlled edge to her voice, friend to her husband the man may be…but she didn't like his reputation. And though she was not a Konoichi, if she ever became the victim of his infamous 'research', well Tsunade would be hearing about that.

A smile came to her face.

"It is good to see you smile, Aki-san," she heard Jiraiya remark.

Teuchi's smile was genuine as he spoke to the ninja.

Aki and he had run into a bit of trouble when they were emigrating to Konoha a couple of years ago. They had very little money to their name and even less as far as possessions. They wanted a fresh start and decided on a major village as the best place to make a life for themselves. More people to serve equaled more business, simple economics really.

Sadly they had no money to hire an escort to get to the village, and their lack of possessions was not a deterrent to the bandits in any way.

The white-haired man, who traveled with them as he was heading back to Konoha himself, had thankfully aided them.

Teuchi considered the man a friend and would be grateful to him for a long time.

"Business is well thanks," the proprietor said jovially. He eyed the three kids that settled themselves beside Jiraiya, "who are the brats?"

All three puffed up indignantly, and Jiraiya barked out a deep laugh. "The old man felt it was time that I passed some of my vast knowledge onto the younger generation," he said throwing his chest out. "These three lucky little kids are my students."

Aki turned and rolled her eyes while Teuchi greeted them and took their orders.

OoOoO

"Thanks Sensei," Karei said happily.

"That was really good," Minato remarked, "thanks."

Sentou nodded his agreement.

"No problem," Jiraiya said. "But don't get used to me treating you, after all tomorrow you start missions and will be making your own money. That said, I want you three to meet me at the same training grounds at eight tomorrow morning, we'll go over some things and then start missions."

"Hai," all three kids coursed and began to leave.

Jiraiya put a hand on Minato's shoulder, "hold on a minute kid, I want to talk about something." He waited until the others were gone, "what was that technique that you used before?"

Minato shrugged, "I don't have a name for it yet, it was just something I was working on."

"You created it?" the older male asked incredulously, Minato nodded. "I felt the potential of it and was even able to see the chakra. That technique was pretty damn good, but I can tell that it is not complete."

"Yeah, that's true sensei, I'm not done with it yet," Minato said. "I've been working on it for a year now, still have a bit to go I think."

Jiraiya nodded, truth was he was amazed. This kid, just barely twelve, was inventing his own jutsu. He really couldn't wait to see what this kid could grow into. "Well, as your sensei, if you ever need help figuring it out just ask, two heads are better than one, after all."

"Thanks sensei," Minato smiled.

"And maybe you can show me how to do it once you do, huh?"

OoOoO

-Two weeks later-

"Number one in position," sounded a female voice over the radio.

Jiraiya nodded, waiting for the other two.

Confirmation soon came, "Number two in position," followed closely by the third.

Jiraiya clicked the send button on his radio, "the target is in sight?"

"Yes," all three responded.

"Good, initiate capture."

There was a sound of a scuffle and a loud yowling before he heard back, "Target is captured," came a female voice.

"Please confirm identity," Jiraiya said.

Minato's voice came on, "Target confirmed, ribbon says 'whiskers'."

"Good, head back to the tower," Jiraiya said. "I will meet you there."

OoOoO

'Poor kitty.'

'I can't believe I feel sorry for it.'

'That's just wrong.'

'Lucky pus…cat.'

The team had just returned to the tower and a young twenty year old, petite woman pulled her precious whiskers to her chest. Almost smothering the frightened feline with her endowed bosom.

The cat kept trying to extricate itself from the newly instated, Fire Daimyo's fiancés surprisingly strong grip, while she paid and thanked the team for bringing her pet back to her.

After she left, the team was addressed by the Hokage, "you three have been doing well these past couple of weeks," Sarutobi smiled.

"Arigato Hokage-sama," all three responded back.

"As such, with your impressive record of 25 D-rank missions done in those to weeks you average about two a day," he continued. "Your teamwork is constantly improving and based on your sensei's observations, I feel you are ready for the next step."

The kids all looked at the man expectantly.

"There is a C-rank mission that you would be eligible for, it is a simple transport mission," Saurtobi went on.

"What kind of transport?" Jiraiya asked.

"One of our allies is in need of some supplies, medicines and the like, you will simply need to guard the cargo from bandits and common thieves. It is a small village about three days journey from here, they have a small force of shinobi but are a poor people."

Jiraiya nodded, he knew what village the old man was talking about. He carefully kept the smile from his face, that village boasted quite a few lovely ladies…and beaches.

"Where would we be taking them, Hokage-sama?" Minato could barely keep the excitement from his voice.

"The coastal village of whirlpool."

Authors note:

To those few who actually follow this story thanks for reading. Also sorry for the infrequent updates, this is just a story that I wanted to see and is not one of my main focuses.

And we all know how it's going to end anyway.

Hopefully I can capture the characters the best I can, after all this is a story following Minato's life so try not to focus on his death.

And a couple of notes to the minor characters.

The Daimyo's wife, I thought it good to have her be a petite beautiful woman when she was a young noble woman. Before she 'grew up'.

And I hope you all liked the little back-story of Teuchi.

Thanks for reading and as always please review.


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